With the advent of the internet and technology, learning new skills and accessing information has become easier with the proliferation of technological devices. It has become easier to communicate, collaborate and connect with all devices such as computers and laptops, smartphones and tablets etc.
These technological devices have also changed the process of learning and have minimized physical intervention. Therefore, the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) in order to enhance student learning through innovative technology has collaborated with Elementary and Secondary Education Foundation (ESEF) KP, and TeleTaleem a social enterprise leveraging ICT to connect users with quality learning opportunities.
The uplift program is called “The Educational Innovation for Bridging the Learning Gaps of Students” that covers four community schools in the areas of District Chitral and Lower Dir Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Moreover, the project connects students from the community schools to professional teachers online for quality education. The project is targeted at the primary grade students and teachers, who wish to improve their learning and teaching skills via innovative classroom practices.
The Community-based Schools (CBSs) that are covered under the initiative include Shakahandeh, Grambat Gol and Kalashgram situated in Village Bomborate, Birir, and Rumbore respectively in union council Ayun of District Chitral and a community-based school, Anangoro Khwar in union council Koto of District Lower Dir.
This project by the PPAF has spanned over 9 months, during this time 265 students were enrolled in four schools. According to the local news, the project cost Rs. 7.32 million that included technological support for each school in the form of a digital classroom. Each classroom has also been equipped with multi-media equipment, tablet, and internet connectivity, linked via the internet to a remote teacher and resource center.
The project has also provided the cost for capacity building of teachers on session delivery, familiarization and use of equipment and assessment through online remote training and remote teaching.
Under the program, separate training sessions are also conducted once a month by professional trainers using the online facility. Both the teaching and training sessions are monitored by the education staff of TeleTaleem. They also provide continuous checks in the form of pre and post assessments with the PPAF team carrying out regular visits to these schools to monitor the impact of remote teaching through the use of internet and multimedia equipment.
According to them significant improvement has been observed in community based schools. The stats by TeleTaleem show that there has been a remarkable improvement in students’ performance.
The Elementary and Secondary Education Foundation (ESEF) was signed an agreement with the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, under which PPAF will hand these four schools to ESEF by November 2018. Furthermore, according to the agreement ESEF will be responsible for the maintenance of the equipment that has been installed by PPAF. They are to continue to collaborate with TeleTaleem to ensure that the efforts that have been made to keep on bearing fruits in the coming days.
